Sometimes Things Happen for a Reason
by Sydbuscus
Summary: When Ciara's parents are killed in a freak car accident, she is sent to live with an uncle in California she has never even heard of. Join her in her adventure to get to know her uncle and his way of life. This story is discontinued as of right now, I'm working full time on my other "In Love at Last." Check it out if you want! :)
1. Chapter 1

**Ok. This story involves Ciara Turner and Toby Turner. Ciara is Toby's niece in real life, and some of the things I'm not a hundred percent sure if they are true.  
I don't own either of them.  
Any who, enjoy! And sorry it's so short. It's just the beginning though! :)**

* * *

**Ch. 1**

My day started out normal.

I woke up for school at 5:30, got on the bus, sat through my boring classes. I never thought one phone call would change everything.  
It was lunchtime. I was picking at my turkey and cheese sandwich and listening to my friend Allison blabber on about cheerleading. My other friend, Sarah, was laughing about something with a girl named Kortnie. Suddenly, Sarah turned to me.  
"Hey, is that sleepover still on for tomorrow night?"  
I looked up. "Of course! My parents said it was fine." I was friends with the half the cheer squad, and most of the volleyball team. That was the sport I played.  
"Awesome! Can we be there around, say six?"  
"That would be super." Kortnie smiled. A new conversation was started about Jason Chance, the boy everyone pretty much swooned over. Ah boys. American girls favorite past time.  
Suddenly, my name was being called to the front of the cafeteria. I stood up with my trash and shuffled to the front of the room where the trash cans were conveniently located.I tossed it in with one solid motion and turned to Mrs. Brown, the lunch monitor. She had a very pained look on her face. Oh boy, was I in trouble? Was I going to get scolded for giving Allison the answers to the homework? She had convinced me, I wouldn't have done that if not for her.  
"What's up?" I asked casually. She looked at me with those sad blue eyes. I frowned.  
"Ciara Turner?" she asked.  
"Yeah? That's me." she took my hand and pulled me into the hallway.  
"I'm so sorry dear." I frowned and felt my eyebrows dip.  
"What's wrong?" she began walking down the hall to the front office, and gestured me to follow her. I did. Once we reached the front office, she held the door open and let me she left. I looked up at the secretary who also looked sad. What was going on?  
"Ms. Turner?" she asked, whispering.  
"Yeah? Why is everyone so sad? I don't understand."  
"Dear, I don't want to be the one to tell you this." she handed me the flimsy and aged phone, which I accepted and shakily held up to my ear.  
"Hello?"  
"Oh my god, Ciara? Is that you? Oh god, I'm so sorry, I'm so-" the voice was sobbing hysterically, and I was confused.  
"Mrs. Halls? Is that you?" Mrs. Halls was my next door neighbor, a sweet lady in her late fifties. She was like my grandma. I had never heard her cry.  
"Yes honey. I'm so sorry. Your parents, they got in a car crash. I'm afraid they are badly injured." My chin hit the floor as I took in the words. The tears began.  
"Are they, they-"  
"I'm so sorry baby. Yes."  
And the breakdown commenced.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2  
I left school immediately. For days I sat in Mrs. Halls house, who kept insisting I call her Carol, and balled my eyes out. I never left the back bedroom. I stayed under the warm covers of the bed and cried my eyes out. Many people came to mourn with me, teachers, friends of my parents, relatives. Well, they were my parents relatives. My parents were both only childs. None of my friends came to visit me. None came to mourn with me.  
The day of the funeral came. It was sleeting, the rain deciding if it wanted to freeze or not. Believe it or not, I was still bawling my eyes out. I had barely eaten anything that entire week. I didn't even go into my house to get my things. I didn't touch my electronics.  
Everyone was wearing black. Surprisingly even my teachers came. Most of them anyway. The prayers were given, and the whole thing seemed to zoom by so quick. My parents were dead. Gone. Never to return. After it was over, we returned home. I snuck out and slipped into my house. It was spotless, and all the food in the fridge had been removed.  
I grabbed clothes from my dresser and shoved them into the duffel bag I had gotten for volleyball. I didn't care what was shoved into the bag, as long as it fit. Then I grabbed a bunch of other important things, such as toiletries and my laptop.  
Then I marched into my parents room. It looked exactly the way it had that morning I had woke up for school. I tried to remember the last words I had told them. To my mom, I had asked about the sleepover. As my father? I had told him to hurry up.  
I would have never guessed they would have died that day. I hadn't even told them I loved them. And now they were gone. I tiptoed lifelessly around the room, touching everything. I grabbed a tie from my dad and my mother's favorite necklace. Looking around the room, I sat on the king sized bed with the fluffy duvet I had also crawled under when I was little. I felt the corners of my mouth rise a little when I remembered snuggling up next to my mom when Dad wasn't home. Setting my face into my hands, I took a long sigh. No longer could I cry. I guess I had used them all up. Respectfully, I carefully stood up and walked out of the room, quietly closing the door. I entered the living room and swiped a picture of the three of us.

"Goodbye," I whispered. Then I left.

The next day, the sun was shining and a thin layer of snow was settled on the ground. The door was thrown open and in walked Mrs. Halls. She sat on the edge of the bed as I sat up groggily and yawned.  
"How did you sleep honey?" she asked.  
"Not so well. I had a bad dream." I rubbed my eyes, recalling the awful dream of watching my parents' frightened faces as that tanker rolled right into them and flattened the pair like a pancake. The wise and old woman gave me a sad smile. She patted my knee.  
"I'm sorry dear. I have some great news though. You're going to move in with your uncle in Los Angeles!"  
I cocked my head with an expression of pure confusion. I didn't have an uncle.  
"I think you're mistaken. I don't have an uncle. My parents were both only childs." She shook her head.  
"No dear. He is your dad's brother. He's recorded as your legal guardian if anything bad was to happen to your parents."  
I let the gears in my brain process the thought. I had a uncle I had never been told about? Why would my father keep that a secret?  
"I have to move to Los Angeles? I have to move to California?" I didn't want to leave Colorado! I lived there my whole live! "I can't just pick up and leave!"  
"I'm sorry honey. He's your legal guardian now. It's the law." I gulped. My eyes were dry, and no tears came out. I guess I really did use them all.  
"When do I leave?" I asked, picking at a loose thread from the quilt.  
"Tomorrow."  
"Tomorrow?! That's crazy!" I jumped up from the bed and began pacing back and forth.  
"Everything is in order. Your signed up for school there and some of your stuff will be shipped out later in the week."  
"But I've never even met the guy! What if he's abusive?"  
"I doubt he's abusive. I've talked to him on the phone and he sounds like a nice guy."  
I grumbled a string of bad words that weren't audible. Mrs. Halls stood up and took me by the shoulders. "You're a strong girl. Everything will be fine." I nodded my head. That didn't mean I didn't want to go.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3  
I buckled my seatbelt as the plane began to descend. The morning had consisted of craziness, and surprisingly, tears. I hadn't even been told my uncle's name. What the hell happened between Dad and my uncle that would have led to me never knowing about them? It was crazy.  
I was only allowed to bring a suitcase and a carryon bag full of my stuff. Some things were being shipped out later and other things were going to have to be replaced. I still couldn't believe how fast my life changed. It also occured to me that I hadn't actually had any true friends. They didn't care about me at all.  
When the plane landed, I grabbed my bag from the rack above me and shuffled off the plane with everyone else. My head felt heavy and my ears needed to pop. I hadn't been on a plane in a while. Once I entered the Los Angeles airport, the amount of people was overwhelming. Light streamed in from the windows like spotlights on a stage. I sighed heavily. If only I was playing a part in a play.  
After I asked for directions to the carousel of luggage, I briskly walked through the crowds of people. That was when I saw him.  
Right away I could tell we were related. He had thick unkempt curly brown hair and deep green eyes, much like myself. He was wearing a dark green shirt with a large stone text in the center, I was too far way to see what it said, and a pair of black and grey plaid pants. They looked like pajama pants to me. Lastly, a pair of thin wired glasses sat on the bridge of his nose.  
He was looking at something on his phone, scrolling every so often. Okay, so he didn't look abusive. He didn't look like he lived in Los Angeles either, he was way too pale for that. I didn't want to talk to him. I just wanted to go back to Colorado with the wind and snow. I knew I was probably never going to see snow ever again.

Quickly, I tried to stroll past him with the rest of the people waiting to get their luggage. At first, I thought I had succeeded when my luggage came around and he wasn't paying attention to anybody but the device in his hand.  
"Can I help you with that?" I turned back around to see him right in front of me, smiling sadly. I realized that his brother's death must have been as hard as it was for me. Then why wasn't he at the funeral?

I shook my head. "Nope.I can get it just fine." Making my point clear, I reached out and pulled the heavy suitcase of the rotating circle and accidently dropped it on my foot. I winced and bit my lip. Whoops, hope he didn't notice that. I turned to leave, hoping he didn't recognize me.

"Ciara?" Of course he recognized me. I mentally slapped myself and turned around. Upon further notice, I noticed his shirt read 'Tobuscus.' Was that some kind of band? Probably.

"Yep. Hi." I gave an apathetic wave. So he was given my name, but I wasn't given his. Not that I wanted it anyways.

"I'm your uncle. My name's Toby." he gave me another sympathetic smile. Thanks for your consideration. What kind of name was Toby, anyway? It sounded like something someone would name their dog. No offense.

"Hello. Again." I muttered. I felt like shit and didn't want to stand in the middle of the airport talking to a guy that I was related to and hadn't met until now. I wanted to go take a nap, and then fly back to Colorado and cry in the back room of Mrs. Halls house some more.

"Hi. Do you want me to carry that?" he asked. I brushed his kindness aside.

"I can do it." I turned and began walking. From the corner of my eye, I saw him shrug.

"Ciara? It's the other way..."

I sighed angrily and marched the other way. I let him lead this time though. Once we walked out doors, I got a sudden shock. It was warm outside. Warm. In the middle of winter. "It's warm out here!" I murmured. Toby chuckled. I glared at him. He stopped. When we approached his car, he opened the passenger side door and bowed. I ignored his stupid gesture and opened the door to the back. His face fell as I climbed into the back seat. Any other time I would have jumped at sitting up front. Now? I didn't want to be anywhere near him. Toby sighed as he shut my door and then got in the drivers seat. I started my phone and inserted my headphones to block out all the outside noises. I looked at Toby, who had quite a strong grip on the wheel and his head resting on the steering wheel itself.

I felt guilty. Sure I didn't like the guy, but I was rude. I opened my mouth to say something when he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot like a madman. I gripped my seat, surprised by the sudden burst of speed.

Then he started talking. He rambled about random topics, but I didn't think he noticed I had headphones in. I pulled them out only once during the journey, and I was informed that chicken nuggets in fact do taste good with biscuits. Fascinating. As I listened to the beats of The Killers and Panic! at the Disco, I found myself slipping into unconsciousness. The night before had brought anxiety and little sleep. The bags under my eyes probably were visible.

"Ciara? We're here." he shook me gently, and I sleepily stretched. Quickly I shoved everything into my bag and unbuckled my seatbelt. After groggily climbing out of the car, I went to the trunk to get my suitcase. "You want help?" he asked.

Man, that guy never knew when to quit. Still feeling bad about earlier, I slowly nodded my head and made my way to the porch while he pulled my bag out of the trunk with ease.

"Shall we?" he asked a few seconds later. I jumped. How did he move so damn fast?

Toby unlocked the door and pushed it open to reveal a small cream colored dog. It barked like crazy, and then started jumping on his owner and myself. Toby squatted down to pet his dog. "Hello little Gryphzor! Did you miss me?" he smiled as Gryphzor licked his hand. Then the shih tzu seemed to notice me. I scratched behind his ears as Toby gave me a quick overview of the family.  
"This is Griffin, the best dog in the entire world." he flashed me a smile. "Griffin, this is Ciara. You be nice to her you fluffy nugget!" I smiled a little as the dog ran around me in circles.

"He's cute." I whispered. I had never had a pet before. Dad was allergic and Mom hated all animals.

"I'll get your bags. Why don't you have a look around?" I nodded my head as Toby went to do my job. Slowly and observantly I wandered around the house.  
The walls were white, and were covered in paintings and drawings of the same character. It was that Tobuscus guy. I guess it wasn't a band, it was a cartoon character. Apparently it was one that my uncle liked a lot. I made my way into the living room. A fireplace sat in the center, a flat screen TV directly above. I wasn't sure why a fireplace was needed in California, but whatever. An old couch faced the fireplace, and large sliding doors lined one side. I pressed my face to the glass. His backyard was absolutely gorgeous, the grass was bright green and large trees dotted the landscape. A wooden hot tub sat in the corner, and blue christmas lights were strung on the fence. I turned away and continued my tour. The kitchen was long and narrow, with an opening on either side. Surprisingly, he kept his washer and dryer in the kitchen. I smiled. My dad had suggested we do the same thing, but my mom was strongly against it.  
I walked back to the living room to see Toby leaning against the wall, checking his phone again. When I cleared my throat, he looked up.

"Can I show you your room?" he shoved the iPhone in his pocket and took off down the hall, the only place I hadn't stepped foot in. I followed him, still taking the time to look at everything. He brought me to a room with white walls, exactly like the rest of the house. A bed was pushed against the corner while boxes scattered the room. I smiled just a little.

"Sorry it's messy, I promise tomorrow we can do whatever you want with it. I'm kind of a huge procrastinator." He grinned sheepishly.

"So am I." I tried to smile, but it came out all stood there for a few seconds before he cleared his throat.

"Well, I'll leave you to your findings or something. If you need me I'll be in my room, which is right across the hall." I nodded my head and he left, closing the door behind him.

I still didn't want to be here, but I had to admit this room was perfect. Since the walls were already white, I wondered if he would let me paint them. My parents always said no so I was forced to hang my murals up instead. The boxes I could move. I wondered what was in them. Was this room storage?

"I can't invade personal space," I reminded myself. I left the boxes and lifted my suitcase onto the bed. That was when I heard laughter coming from across the hall. Curious, I snuck out and leaned the side of my head on the door. It definitely was Toby, but I could only make out a few sentences and words.

"My niece...Ciara will be living with me...sunglasses look good on statues..." He rambled.

I guessed he was probably making a video journal or something. It was easier than writing, and I had to admit, I had done it before. Quickly I left the door and scooted into the living room where Griffin sat sleeping on the couch. I sat next to him and sighed. This was my new home. This was my new family. This was my new life.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4  
Later that day, after I had settled in somewhat and had gotten a pretty general idea of the house, I sat at the kitchen table with a book. I tried to read, but I couldn't focus. Soon, tears were streaming down my face.

I kept thinking of my parents buried under the ground in the freezing cold. Sure, it might be sunny here, but it sure as hell wasn't in Colorado. I wouldn't even be able to visit their graves.

And my uncle? He was strange. I still had no idea why I wasn't told about him. Was he told about me?

All these questions made me more angry and made the tears double. I chucked the book across the room and it hit the wall with a loud thump. I screamed and screamed, howling in pain. Toby ran into the room, a worried look on his face.

"Ciara?" he whispered when he saw me. I turned away, and quickly he swept me off the old wooden chair and carried me to the couch. I didn't weigh much, but the fact he could do that surprised me. I let him hug me tight, and I buried my face into his chest. He stroked my hair while I cried, whispering "Shh, everything is going to be alright, I promise."

Soon I found that I wasn't the only one sniffling. We must of sat that way for about thirty minutes because next thing I knew, there was a knock at the door.

"Ah, shit." Toby muttered under his breath. "I forgot to cancel with Jack and Sean."

"It's ok." I stood up. "I'll stay out of your guy's way."

"No no, it's fine. It's your first day, I don't want you to be uncomfortable in any way."

"Seriously, I can stay in the room. I don't want you to not have a life just because I'm here. Besides, I'm fifteen. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Toby shrugged, and then went to answer the door. I heard laughter and then the three men shuffled into the room. "Ciara, this is Jack," he pointed to the man with the strawberry colored hair, bushy eyebrows and grey eyes. "and this is Sean." then he pointed to the other guy with the light brown hair in the fohawk and light brown eyes. "Guys, this is Ciara." Jack and Sean waved at me, so I nodded in their general direction.

"Have fun," I mumbled as I turned to leave. Three steps later, a hand touched my shoulder and gently turned me around.

"You're welcome to stay," Toby whispered. I shook my head and nudged away from his grasp. Then I darted into my room.

I can't really say how long I was in my room, but at one point I fell asleep. When I woke up, it was almost nine o'clock. I sat up sleepily and shuffled over to the door. Opening it slowly, I could hear laughter coming from the front room. I sighed and shut the door. This isn't how I would have chose to spend my first day here, but then again, it reminded me of life at home. Groaning audibly, I dropped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. Then a thought crossed my mind. I had brought my laptop. Why hadn't I thought of that earlier when I was staring at the wall for fun?  
Then I remembered you needed a wifi password to get internet. Crap.

I crossed that idea off my list. I couldn't call anybody. I had no real friends. Or parents for that matter. All I had was a cute dog and an unusual uncle. Like I said, no one to talk to.

I did bring some paper and pencils though. Why not take a shot at drawing that Tobuscus character?

So that's exactly what I did. It turned out he had some pictures of that particular character in the closet in the room. I had a feeling that 'Tobuscus' had a huge part in his career, but I wasn't the type to quickly judge. He was actually really simple to draw, and I found myself drawing him over and over again, but in different versions. Soon, there was a knock on the door.

I frantically shoved everything under the covers, not caring if it got bent and ruined. I just didn't want him to see.

"Hey Ciara? You can come out now, they're gone." he pounded on the door again.

"Yeah, hold on, hold on." I grumbled as I pulled the door open.

"Oh my gosh! What happened to you?" He exclaimed, and then immediately regretted his words. After my commercial breakdown, my makeup had been smeared from here to Hawaii. I had met Jack and Sean like that.

Then I had fell asleep, and the result of that was extreme bed hair.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that!" He began to ramble, so I put my hands out to stop him.

"It's fine. I know I look like crap." Toby raised his eyebrows, and then sighed.

"I know today sucked." I gave a small nod. "But I promise tomorrow will be better." He flashed a goofy grin and then held out his hand. "Are you hungry? We can go get something if you want."

I narrowed my eyes and blurted out, "Why the hell do you keep being so nice to me? All I've done is treat you like a piece of shit!" tears began pouring out of my eyeballs and I curled back on the bed. Toby kneeled down next to me.  
"Ciara," he whispered, pulling my hair behind my ear. I almost slapped his hand away from my head, but since I had just went off on him for that reason...

He began to rub my back in small circles as he talked. "I know it's going to be hard, and I know it's especially hard because we just met. Ciara, I loved your was my only brother, my best friend." he sighed. "I'm not saying I'm going to replace your family, because I'm not. I guess we can just say I'm a new addition. And I hope one day we can be best friends. Well, considering everything and all." I wiped my nose and turned around to face him. Sniffling, I nodded my head and extended my arms to give him a hug. He hugged back tightly, and I smiled. When he let go, I looked at him.

"Why would my dad not tell me about an uncle I have?" I asked, clearly confused. He winked.

"I'll explain everything, but for now, can we go out?" I nodded my head. "Cool, I'll be in the car. Come out when you're ready." he quickly smiled once more and shot out the door.

As fast as I could, I grabbed my toiletries and dashed into the bathroom. I ran a brush through my thick hair and removed all my makeup, making sure to put on my glasses that I absolutely hated. I swiped my jacket from the rack by the door, had a fit trying to put it on, and still somehow managed to get inside the car in one piece. Toby burst into laughter when he saw me.

"What?" I asked, frowning. He pointed to my jacket. I looked down to find out I hadn't grabbed my Aeropostale jacket, but my uncle's 'Tobuscus' one instead.

"Sorry," I murmured,starting to take it off. He stopped me.

"Don't worry about it." He winked and started pulling out of the driveway. I took the jacket off anyway.

For the first few minutes the car was silent, the only sound coming from the air conditioner. It was weird having the cool air on in the winter, but I guessed I would just have to get use to it. The radio wasn't on, and I looked at the passing houses, the hazy porch lights flickering by. I still couldn't believe it was my first day. I couldn't believe that my parents had died a few weeks ago. I couldn't believe Thanksgiving was in a few weeks. I couldn't believe I was sitting in a car with a stranger. And I couldn't believe I started crying again.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

"Ciara," he whispered softly, putting a hand on my back. I turned to face him, but not before quickly trying to wipe away some tears.

"Sorry, I'm a little emotional at the moment." I chuckled a little, trying to ease some of the pressure of my back.

"You don't need to apologize, I know it's tough. Tell you what, why don't we talk to keep your mind on something else? Something a little less important?" He raised one eyebrow. I was jealous of how he was able to do that.

"Sure."

"Alrighty, how about our schedule for tomorrow? Want to start with that? I promise it won't be as sucky as it was today." he grinned childishly.  
"Sure, that sounds fine." I nodded my head and leaned on the arm of the chair.

"Well, you're more than welcome to sleep in, considering all that's happened today. I usually get up pretty early...or stay up really late. It depends on the day," he explained, moving his hands all around. I really hoped he was paying attention to the road, I didn't want to die today. "Then will probably go get you some furnishings and clothing... maybe some paint? Oh, and definitely clean your room up, that's our first priority." Toby smiled. I bit my lip and nodded my head.

"That sounds like an excellent plan," I agreed. I debated on asking him about the murals. Figuring I would ask him later, I didn't mention it. I did however, mention his wording. "By the way, why do you word everything so strangely?"

"Whatever do you mean? My words are completely and utterly normal." he winked. God, his facial expressions were hilarious.

Soon we entered the city and pulled into a Starbucks. "Is this ok?" he questioned, foot still on the pedal and hands tightly gripped on the steering wheel. I nodded my head. He pulled into a parking space, yanked the key of of the ignition and quickly hurried to open my door. Man, this guy never stopped moving. I stepped out, and just as quickly he was dancing to the door. Giggling to myself, I followed him, and noticed that he wasn't taking steps such as myself. He was gliding.

"Dearest Uncle," I asked in my best "him" voice. "Can I ask why on Earth you have wheels in your shoes?" he swiftly did a 180 to face me, a huge grin on his face.

"It helps to get places faster. And so I can do this!" Toby launched himself towards the door of Starbucks, shouting, "WHEEEEWWW!" I burst into laughter, falling to the ground in the process. He looked back at me, the same goofy grin on his face. Maybe we were going to be great friends; he acted like he was younger than me instead of older. "Come on slow poke!" he yelled, opened the door. I picked myself up from the warm asphalt and headed towards the door.

Once inside, he looked at me. "What will it be my lady?"

"Uhm..." I tapped my chin with my finger, scanning the menu. Was I to tell him I had never not ever once been to a Starbucks in all my fifteen years of life? He seemed to notice I was having trouble because he casually leaned over and whispered, "I would recommend their extravagant hot chocolate, unless, of course, you prefer coffee." I stared at him. I had never had coffee, and if I were to get it there were so many choices and combinations I would lose patience trying to figure out what to get. I went with the hot chocolate.

"Excellent choice!" Toby exclaimed, clapping his hands together. The few people in the cafe stared, obviously annoyed. My uncle didn't seem to care at all whatsoever. I liked that about him. "And dessert for dinner? Man, I've got some horrible parenting skills," he teased, nudging me. For some reason I blushed. I hated asking for things. Or in this case, choosing the things.

"Well, uhm, a bagel sounds good." I murmured. Toby frowned.

"Come on, get something more exciting than that! It's your first time, get whatever the hell you want!"

"If you say so," I pondered a little more before finally deciding. "Is pumpkin bread ok?"

"Of course dearest niece!" He proceeded to the counter to order. When he finished paying, he joined me at the table of my choice.

"Hi,"I whispered, looking at the pattern on the tabletop. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him smile. I looked at him. "Let's get serious now, ok? Why wouldn't my father tell me about you? If you were my legal guardian and stuff, you would probably be a huge part of my life."

Toby sighed. I knew he didn't like being serious at all whatsoever. "Your father and I, we got in a huge fight. This was before you were born of course, since I didn't even know I had a niece. I did something I totally regret, and I wish I could have said sorry." he sighed.

"What happened? I promise this conversation will never leave the table. Besides, who would I tell, your dog?" Toby snorted.  
"I cheated on your dad with his girlfriend."

My mouth dropped. How could he have done that? That's crazy! "Why would you do that?"

"I was stupid. It was awful, and I still feel terrible about it. He left immediately, and changed all his numbers. I never spoke to him ever again."

"That's a little dramatic, don't you think?" I said. Yeah, it was a terrible thing to do, but to never talk to your brother ever again? That's a bit extreme.

"No. He was a drama queen, but I deserved it." Toby put his head in his hands. "I haven't told anyone except you. Not even our parents knew. I guess he really loved that girl. He was going to propose, I later found out."

"That's so sad." I frowned.

"I know. I'm an awful, awful person."

"Everyone does bad things. Even perfect silly people like you. And you still have people that love you, am I right?" He sighed and looked at me.

"Yeah. Your right. I just wish I could have apologized, you know?" I nodded my head.

Our number was called and Toby rushed to go get it. When he got back, he waited for me to take my first bite.

"Eating at StarBucks for the first time is a huge deal!" he teased. We talked about me mostly. He wanted to know what I enjoyed doing, if I played any sports, and really, everything. I told him about how I loved theater, which he was really excited about, how I loved to draw, and the topic of painting the walls was brought up. He said he would love to have me paint the walls. I think it was because he really didn't want to do it. I told him about how I used to play volleyball, but now that I was here, I didn't want to play it anymore. Now that I didn't have friends that made fun of the theater kids, I could be one. It made me giddy just thinking about it.

After we were done, we drove home in silence. We decided to put on a movie, since I had slept most of the day and couldn't sleep now. It was some cheesy romance movie, I guessed he owned it because of a current or past girlfriend. I think he thought I would like it. It kept my brain off of other things I guess. And it was a form of entertainment.

But god, it was awful. "Hey, Uncle, do you think we can turn this off? It's really, like really bad." I grimaced to make a point. Toby laughed.

"Thank god. I thought girls enjoyed this kind of stuff, but since you think it's bad, then I can make fun of it all I want." he winked. "Are you ready for bed?"

I shook my head. "Not really, but if you got stuff to do, well..."

"Hey, don't worry about what I gotta do. I'm the one who should be concerned about keeping you entertained." He stood up from the old sagging couch, and my eyes spied the massive stack of video games gathered in a pile along the wall. Well, it had been quite some time...

"You're a gamer, huh?" I interrogated, standing up as well and taking a few steps towards the pile. He blushed.

"Just a little bit... Most of those I haven't played in a while. The ones I'm currently working on are all on the computer. Well, except Assassin's Creed three." I nodded.

"I heard that was a good one."

"Yeah, it's fun, even though I totally suck at it."

"Being horrible at a game is what makes it more fun!" Toby muttered something I didn't quite catch and then smiled.

"Yeah. Well, you make your pick."

"Me?"

"Yes." I looked at all the games, several, well almost all of them which I hadn't even heard of. What was I going to pick?

"Can you maybe, uhm, chose for me by any chance?" Toby raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

"Sure. Are you afraid of blood and or violence?"

"Uhm..." A horrible picture of my parents broken and torn bodies entered my mind. I shuddered, and Toby seemed to notice.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned that. Maybe we should just put on another movie."

"That actually sounds fine."

So my dearest uncle popped another movie in, this time a suspenseful "James Bond" movie, and plopped back down onto the couch. I curled up next to him, and Griffin cuddled on the opposite side. Halfway through the movie, fatigue took control and my eyelids became heavy. I buried my head into his chest, no longer caring about my eternal grudge against him. My uncle was just too hard to hate.


End file.
